170 
THE SALAMANDER . 
ear is imperfect. The color of the Rhinophrvne is slate-gray, with yellow spots on the sides 
and a row of similar spots along the back. Sometimes these latter spots unite so as to form a 
jagged line down the back. 
THE CRAWLING BATRACHIANS. 
We now arrive at the Crawling Batrachians, technically called Amphibia Gradientia. 
All these creatures have a much elongated body, a tail which is never thrown off as in the 
frogs and toads, and limbs nearly equal in development, but never very powerful. Like the 
preceding sub-order, the young are hatched from eggs, pass through the preliminary or 
tadpole state, and, except in a very few instances, the gills are lost when the animal attains its 
perfect form. Both jaws are furnished with teeth, and the palate is toothed in some species. 
The skin is without scales, and either smooth or covered with wart-like excrescences. There 
is no true breast-bone, but some species have ribs. 
The development of the young from the egg is not quite the same as that of the tailless 
Batrachians. Instead of being deposited in masses or long strings, the eggs are laid singly, 
and are hatched in succession. When the young are first hatched they bear some resemblance 
to the tadpole of the frog, the gills being very conspicuous. In these creatures, however, the 
fore-legs make their appearance first, and are soon followed by the hinder pair, whereas in the 
frogs the hind-legs are seen for some time before the fore-limbs are visible externally. Further 
remarks will be made on this subject when we come to the well-known representative of this 
sub-order, the common newt or eft. 
SAT.AM ATS TDRR .— Salamandra maculosa . 
The celebrated Salamander, the subject of so many strange fables, is a species found 
in many parts of the continent of Europe. 
This creature was formerly thought to be able to withstand the action of fire, and to 
quench even the most glowing furnace with its icy body. It is singular how such ideas should 
have been so long promulgated, for although Aristotle repeated the tale on hearsay, Pliny tried 
the experiment, by putting a Salamander into the fire, and remarks, with evident surprise, that 
it was burned to a powder. A piece of cloth dipped in the blood of a Salamander w r as said to 
be unhurt by fire, and certain persons had in their possession a fire-proof fabric made, as they 
stated, of Salamander’s wool, but which proved to be asbestos. 
Another fable related of this creature still holds its ground, though perhaps with little 
reason. I have already mentioned one or two instances of the prejudices which are so deeply 
ingrained in the rustic mind, and given a short account of the superstitions prevalent in I ranee 
